Minnesota-based Multinational Corporation 3M has come under fire for allegedly supplying defective earplugs to the armed forces and veterans are claiming that the earplugs exposed their ears to damage. The lawsuits come after the company agreed to pay the U.S. Government a sum of $9.1 million in 2018. The payment was to resolve claims alleging that the company “falsified test results and did not disclose the design defects that hampered the effectiveness” of the earplugs supplied to the armed forces. However, the company did not admit liability or guilt while settling, describing the payment as ‘a business decision’.
The affected veterans are those in active service between 2003 and 2015. The Combat Arms Earplugs were designed to block out dangerously loud noises from machinery, explosions, aircraft, gunfire, etc. Service members were given the earplugs as part of their standard kits and were expected to wear them during training and in combat. According to the lawsuit between the government and the company, 3M supplied 750,000 pairs of earplugs annually between 2006 and 2015 and they generated at least $9 million in sales every year.
Cases may number up to thousands
In the different lawsuits filed by hundreds of veterans, the plaintiffs allege that the defective earplugs allowed dangerously loud sounds to slip through. They also claimed that the 3M Company was aware of the defect, yet they neither warned the soldiers nor provided adequate instructions for use. Many of the plaintiffs are seeking compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain arising from ear problems such as hearing loss, tinnitus, and loss of balance.
More than a hundred lawsuits were filed in the District Court for the Western District of Texas by two law firms- Bell, Rose & Cobos and Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Aziz. Similar cases have also been filed in Maryland, Florida, South Carolina, etc.
According to Mo Aziz, an attorney working with one of the Texas firms, the widespread damage caused to veterans by the defective earplugs means the current cases are just a tip of the iceberg and the company should expect many more. Information from Veteran Affairs reveals that more than 2.7 million veterans receive disability benefits for tinnitus and hearing loss. Given the timeframe of 3M’s contract to supply earplugs, it’ll be no surprise if the lawsuits add up to tens of thousands.
3M plans to go to court
Currently, there is no indication that the company is planning to settle the individual lawsuits as it did with the government. According to AARP, the company released a statement that “we deny this product was defectively designed and will defend against the allegations in these lawsuits through the legal process.” Although there is no timeline available as yet, the likely outcome is that the cases are consolidated into a multidistrict litigation and tried together.
Tracy Everhart
Tracy Everhart is the Editor for Drug Law Journal. A highly-trained and certified medical professional, Tracy is also an accomplished medical writer. After spending years on the front lines of the medical profession, Tracy now devotes her expertise and skills to researching and reporting on new drugs and devices that enter the market, as well as their side-effects and the real-life stories involved. Prior to joining Drug Law Journal, Tracy wrote for benchmark online healthcare resources focused on families and, in particular, women’s health issues. Tracy holds post-graduate degrees from both the American College of Healthcare Sciences and the Yale School of Nursing. She is also a graduate of both Hampshire College, where she studied microbiology and the University of South Carolina school of nursing.